5 intriguing questions that science has not yet been able to answer – 01/16/2024 – Science

There are few things more exciting than uncovering the mysteries of the natural world.

And it’s not just brilliant minds who achieve this. It’s a pleasure that, fortunately, is within everyone’s reach.

Think, for example, of the wonderful moment when you understand a riddle for the first time, usually because one or many of those brilliant minds gave their souls, hearts and lives to solve it.

Science has had surprising success in research thus far, but many questions remain unresolved.

Some questions are old, others have emerged as we have acquired more knowledge: the more you know, the more you know what you don’t know.

So, from the way bikes stay upright to incomprehensibly rare prime numbers, there’s a vast ocean of unknowns.

That is great. Questions should never be exhausted, not only because they contain the hope of an answer, but because curiosity, as the philosopher Thomas Hobbes said, is the lust of the mind.

But how can we choose just five mysteries that have not yet been solved by science to present here?

With much difficulty, some reflection and the unfortunate arbitrariness that characterizes these tasks, we selected some examples.

1. What is the Universe made of?

The Universe itself is a source of questions: what existed before it existed? Is it infinite or simply immense? Is it unique or just one among many?

But it is particularly curious that scientists, at this moment, only understand the nature of 5% of its structure.

Although this is no small feat.

We are talking about atoms, their components —protons, electrons and neutrons— and neutrinos, the elusive particles that can pass through matter (even throughout the Earth) as if there were nothing there.

This all seems familiar to us now, but it’s worth remembering that although the idea of ​​the atom was recorded as far back as the 5th century BC and it was the Greeks who gave it its name, it was only in the early 19th century that chemist John Dalton developed one. very persuasive argument that led to the surprising conclusion that all matter was made of very, very small, indivisible atomic pieces.

Since then, many questions have been answered.

But there remains a big mystery, which is substantial: what is the other 95% made of?

What is known is that approximately 27% is dark matter. It was first discovered in 1933 and acts as an invisible glue that holds galaxies and galaxy clusters together.

It is also known that it is nearby because it has mass and, therefore, gravitational force, which can be measured when it attracts the known 5%.

But if this invisible cloak is mysterious, even more unknown is what makes up more or less 68% of the Universe: dark energy.

We have known about its existence since 1998. Experts explain that it is something similar to the ether, which fills space and drives the expansion of the Universe at ever greater speeds.

But we don’t know much more than that. There are several hypotheses, but after decades of research, the mystery persists.

2. How did life come about?

If the expression “primordial soup” comes to mind, you’re on the right track.

The hypothesis, proposed in the 1920s, independently but simultaneously, by Alexander Oparin in the former Soviet Union (USSR) and by the British geneticist JBS Haldane, is one of several theories competing as the best answer.

The idea behind this concept is that when the Earth was young, the oceans were full of simple chemicals important for life, which with the mixture of gases in the atmosphere and the energy of lightning, may have formed amino acids, the structures that make up proteins.

For many scientists, this theory is the best to explain how life arose on Earth.

But it is not universally accepted nor is it the only one.

In fact, there is no agreement about life or where it began.

There are scholars who believe that the emergence took place at sea, others speak of geothermal pools, in ice or even far from Earth (and that it would have arrived here with asteroids or space dust).

But when? It is not known exactly: the moment of the origin of life is also a reason for doubt.

The only thing we know for sure is that it occurred after the formation of the Earth, 4.5 billion years ago, but before 3.4 billion years ago, the time of the oldest confirmed fossils.

Even more complicated is the question of what was the mechanism that made its emergence possible.

The theory that amino acids were assembled into proteins is a possibility, but it is not as popular as the hypothesis that life began with RNA, a close cousin of DNA that can carry genes and copy, fold, and act as an enzyme.

Another idea is that the first organisms were simple masses or blobs, “protocells” that functioned as containers for the components of life.

Therefore, there is still no agreement on the answer to one of the most profound questions in science.

And we don’t even dare to ask another even deeper question: why did life begin?

3. What makes us human?

It’s a question that has become more difficult to answer.

Before there were aspects that seemed exceptionally human: language, the recognition of ourselves when we see ourselves reflected, the ability to create and use tools or solve complex problems.

But animals like octopuses and crows, to name just two, have gradually eliminated this superiority complex.

It was also discovered that the human genome is 99% identical to that of a chimpanzee.

It’s true that our brains are larger than those of most animals: we have, for example, three times as many neurons as gorillas. But considering that animals like the elephant surpass us in this regard, it doesn’t seem like the answer lies there.

And, in fact, nowhere. There are only questions.

Is it due to the thicker frontal cortex? Or the opposite thumb? Maybe our culture, or our ability to cook, or our mastery of fire? Maybe cooperation, compassion and sharing skills?

But is this what makes us human or simply dominant?

4. What is consciousness?

It’s possible to say that consciousness is what makes us human, but it’s difficult to really know without understanding what it is.

The organ of consciousness, according to experts, is the human brain, or the most complex thing in the known universe: 100 billion incessantly active nerve cells that control biological functions and help us think.

Not only does it allow us to respond to sounds, scents and all kinds of environmental cues, but it also allows us to retain information. What’s more: by integrating and processing a lot of information, we can concentrate and block the sensory stimuli that bombard us instead of reacting.

Furthermore, the brain allows us to distinguish between what is real and what is not and to imagine multiple future scenarios that help us adapt and survive.

But it’s not a computer, it’s much more. It gives us an inner life: we not only think, but we also know that we think.

How does the brain generate the self, or the experience we have of being unique? How does it make abstract thinking possible?

Consciousness is the most surprising thing about the human brain and a question we may never be able to resolve.

5. Why do we dream?

Scientists and sleep experts know when we dream: usually during the deepest part of the sleep cycle, or during REM sleep, which in English means Rapid Eye Movement, or “rapid eye movement.”

What they don’t know is why we dream.

Sigmund Freud believed that dreams were expressions of unsatisfied (often sexual) desires. Others conjecture that dreams are nothing more than random images of a brain at rest.

Some studies seem to indicate that dreams may play a role in memory, learning and emotions. Although they can also be a way of reflecting or releasing everyday stress, or even an unconscious way of unraveling challenging experiences.

Our dreams can also provide a kind of survival mechanism, allowing us to simulate potential threats or rehearse social situations in advance.

But they may not fulfill a specific function. Perhaps, they are nothing more than the byproduct of our brain’s incessant activity while we sleep.

More poetically, remembering the Spanish poet Calderón de la Barca: “All life is a dream. And dreams are dreams.”